Good news for shoppers: According to Reuters, affluent travelers are spurring retailers to expand their presence in high-end airports around the world.
Travel retail has long been a fixture for brands like Estée Lauder and LVMH's Louis Vuitton. But sales at airports and other travel venues have risen far more quickly in recent years than at regular stores for many chains, putting this area of retailing front and center in many companies' expansion plans.
Chains with few such stores are adding new ones: Tiffany & Co is set to open a second store in Singapore's Changi this year and one at Berlin's new airport next year, bringing the jeweler's total to eight, while Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot, which is also part of LVMH, is eyeing Frankfurt's airport.
And in the U.S., Estée Lauder Co's M.A.C. and Brookstone Inc opened stores at the splashy $1.4 billion international terminal in Atlanta that opened in May.
For the record, Boston Consulting Group expects overall sales of luxury goods to rise 14.5 percent by 2014.
Photo courtesy of Heathrow Airports Limited